PHILADELPHIA — Finally, the Islanders gave the type of effort Butch Goring has been demanding. But it took a powerful speech from his assistant coach to get it done and, in the end, it wasn’t enough.

Continuing their recent trend of playing without energy or heart, the Islanders were on the brink of being blown out again last night, falling behind the Flyers by two goals in the first period.

But in between periods, Isles assistant coach Greg Cronin blasted the players, going so far as to question their manhood.

The speech seemed to have an impact. After another Philadelphia goal, the Islanders suddenly came alive with two goals of their own and managed to make the Flyers squirm. That was some consolation, but the Islanders dropped their fifth in a row, 3-2, before 19,703 at the First Union Center.

“After the first period [Cronin] challenged us, [asking] whether we were scared to the play the game,” said defenseman Jamie Heward. “He said, ‘I don’t think you guys are paying the price for 60 minutes. He challenged our integrity. Our guys responded very well.”

Cronin, who has ripped the team before, said he was serious about how the team played in the first 20 minutes.

“We had a philosophy that regardless of the score we’d play with energy,” said Cronin. “That translates into skating hard and finishing checks. That wasn’t happening in the first period.”

But it happened thereafter, when Tim Connolly scored with 48 seconds left in the second (his sixth of the season), and Jorgen Jonsson added another, on a great feed from Bill Muckalt, who was falling down, at 7:02 of the third.

It was enough of a comeback to make Goring proud.

“I’m pleased with our effort,” he said. “We came to play and put on a good show.”

Nevertheless, the Islanders are now 0-6-1 in their last seven games in Philadelphia, and haven’t won there since Nov. 4, 1996, a streak that shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

In their last 14 home games, the Flyers are an outrageous 11-0-3.

Comparing the talent levels of the two clubs, the Isles played over their heads, considering how bad they looked during their 7-3 loss to the Bruins Tuesday. And especially considering that the Flyers have at least three players who will be all-stars, not including Eric Desjardins, a Norris Trophy candidate who might be skipped over despite leading the league in points by a defenseman (32).

The Islanders, on the other hand, will have just one all-star representative (probably Mariusz Czerkawski), and only because every team must be represented.

One of those Flyer invitees will undoubtedly be Mark Recchi, who gave further evidence last night by scorching the Isles for three assists. With 52 points, the right winger moved into a second-place tie for most points in the league with Owen Nolan of San Jose.

Recchi notched his first assist last night when Rod Brind’Amour wristed a shot from the left circle past Kevin Weekes with 13:35 left in the first period for a 1-0 lead.

It wasn’t long before the Flyers showed their devastating power play (first in the league) when Mikael Renberg, positioned on the doorstep, tipped in a Recchi blast to make it 2-0 with 10:05 left in the first.

Daymond Langkow added another power play goal with 6:20 remaining in the second on a slapper from the slot.

Defenseman Kenny Jonsson sat out his fourth consecutive game since contracting a viral infection a few days before New Year’s. During that span, he said he has lost at least 12 pounds.